Humaniversity Addiction Therapy

The Humaniversity is a rare place in Holland for the treatment of addiction - it aims for complete and successful rehabilitation. The Humaniversity's approach is to work intensively with addicts who are motivated to deal with the root psychological causes for their difficulties in life, and their addiction. The methadone programs, on the other hand, do cost less, but arguably fail to deal with the real causes of the addiction.

Veeresh, the founder and president of the Humaniversity, trained and graduated top of the class from Phoenix House, New York, which is the largest drug addiction rehabilitation community in the USA. Having successfully recovered from his own 14-year heroin addiction, he was invited by British medical authorities in 1966 to establish a Phoenix House London. As he became famous for his work in the field of drug rehabilitation, he was invited by the Dutch Ministry of Health in 1975 to establish an addiction therapist training program and the first drug-free therapeutic community in Emiliehoeve. Veeresh opened his own institute, the Humaniversity, in 1978. There, he created Humaniversity Therapy based on his own expertise, and a blend of humanistic psychology, meditation and addiction therapy.

Humaniversity Therapy differs from the traditional therapeutic community program in that:

Addiction and the emotional pain that causes the addiction are replaced by a psychological antidote: authentic human connection and the ability to develop loving relationships.
Addicts and non-addicts participate in the same program with the consequence that they learn to develop relationships outside their addict network and so, have a better chance of integrating back into society.
Meditation is part of the program. This raises personal awareness and a capacity for self-management.
Whereas some communities exclude sexuality in the recovery program, the Humaniversity integrates it together with education about the connection between addiction and sex.
The therapists are living what they are teaching.
The addict can enter the program for Addiction Studies to obtain certification as a Humaniversity Addiction Specialist. His experience as an addict can then be used constructively to help other addicts to deal with their recovery.

Humaniversity Addiction Program Intensive

The goal of this program is to replace the need for chemicals with satisfying human contact. The emphasis is on relating. This involves looking at dysfunctional patterns established in early childhood, and learning nourishing ways of relating. You learn emotional expression, communication skills, how to relate with authority, and you undergo an intense program of emotional rehabilitation. Work structures are used to teach you the basic skills and attitudes needed to function in daily life. You are supported in gaining clarity into how you want to live your life.

This process takes one year. At the end of the first year you are assessed and, if approved, can enrol in the Addiction Studies Training, which is designed for those who wish to work with people in the field of addiction therapy.

Veeresh:

"We help you to change your behaviour in present time in an environment where you can learn social interaction with a wider range of people. We focus on the development of your human potential, rather than the on re-integration into society. We show you how to become a happy person rather than a purely functional one. Happiness is the experience that you are looking for when you are using drugs. When this experience is achieved without drugs and fully experienced, you will understand that you can drop the sand for the diamond. Meditation is one of the major ways to provide such an experience.

We get you to stop using drugs in the here and now. We help you to find out what is behind this madness of using a chemical to be yourself and to ask yourself, 'How come that whenever I am under stress I use dope? How realistic is that stress? What is it all about?'

Once you have learned how to be a happy human being, drugs are useless in your life. No substitute is needed anymore. You have learned to be yourself without the manipulation of drugs. This is the definition for cure according to our standard.

Statistics may imply that a junkie is cured, when he has a job, a car, a relationship or family - with or without methadone. We don't emphasise cure according to statistics. Our criterion is the exploration of the human potential through self-realisation."

Certain therapeutic techniques have shown to be very effective in that learning process: Emotional Healing, Encounter, Bodywork, Martial Arts, Nutrition, Individual work, Sociodrama and role play, Social Meditation, Creative Expression, and Hugging.

We give you a map showing you who you are emotionally and how to change your behaviour in a positive way. Eventually you will find out that you are loveable, and that you are at the beginning of a journey of self-discovery that is far more rewarding and permanent than the high of any drug.

For more detailed information, please contact Sangitama M. Hübner, Supervisor of the Humaniversity Addiction Program Intensive (HAPI), member of the NVPA (aangesloten aan het Tucht- en Klachtrecht) and make an appointment for a personal talk.
Call +31-72-5064114 or send an e-mail.